The number of unpaid family workers in their 20s reached 37,749 last month, up 9,743 or an increase of 34.8 percent from the same month last year. This upward trend reflects a significant shift in the labor market.
An unpaid family worker is defined as someone who works at a self-employed business run by a family member or relative for over 18 hours a week.
The employment rate for individuals aged 15 to 29 was 46.5 percent in July, down 0.5 percentage point from the previous month. In contrast, the unemployment rate stood at 5.5 percent. Among people aged 15 to 65, there were 28.8 million employed individuals. The unemployment rate measures the proportion of jobless people actively seeking work.
The significant gap between the employment rate for young Korean workers, which lags behind the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of approximately 66 percent, and the unemployment rate suggests that many have stopped looking for jobs. Data show that 416,000 jobless people in their 20s were not actively seeking work in July.
A recent survey by Statistics Korea found that about 25 percent of unemployed young adults did not wish to work. Reasons for not seeking employment include insufficient job opportunities that match desired salary levels or working conditions, a lack of job openings, inadequate education or technical experience, and a perception that jobs are not available nearby.
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the number of people subscribed to national unemployment insurance stood at 2.39 million as of July, down 4.2 percentage points from the previous year, extending its record declining streak to 23 consecutive months.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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